


Best Kept Secrets

by LockeHegemon



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: AU, Angst, But it gets better!, Dark, Guardians in disguise, M/M, Panic Attacks, References to Suicide, Sex in later chapters, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-10-07
Packaged: 2017-12-11 13:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LockeHegemon/pseuds/LockeHegemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe in which Jack Frost, 20 something with a minimum wage job and a penchant for long runs just might be getting the break he needs.</p><p>*This work his been discontinued*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rising

**Author's Note:**

> There are some mentions of suicide in this so be warned! 
> 
> Even though it starts out kind of dark it gets happier. I promise.

Jackson Overland Frost had always been a morning person; he was the embodiment of rise and shine. So it was almost unheard of for his alarm to ring at five in the morning with no response but a heartfelt groan and a hand slapping down on the snooze button. The man in question, still a boy even at twenty-two years of age, kicked the covers off of himself when the alarm rang once more and sighed loudly at the ceiling as if this morning was a personal affront to his sensibilities.

Jack forced his dirty sneakers onto his feet and yawned, plugging in his ear buds and nodding absently to the beat as he stumbled down the stairs of his apartment building. The streets were still deserted in the pale morning light and the air was crisp with the promise of snow. A slight grin tugged at one side of the youths face as he started a light jog. Winter had always been his favorite season.

His apartment was situated in a grungier part of the city, conveniently placed between the weird Korean market that stayed open all night and the weirder Laundromat that saw customers now and then, but no one ever seemed to have any clothes with them. Some part of him realized that laundering clothes must not be the only function of the place, but he decided that leaving his mild curiosity as just that would probably save him some grief down the road.

Two blocks and an intersection from the cramped, lonely apartment he lived in was the cramped, busy office he worked in. His office-if one could call a room the size of a broom closet with a chair, desk, computer and no window an office- was shoved in one corner of the building and he was mostly left to his own devices, his supervisor being much too occupied with sleeping off his own hangovers. Sometimes Jack considered if anyone would notice him not coming in one day.

His breath was labored as he rounded the corner into the local park, it wasn't much to look at but it had one very attractive attribute in the form of several huge sequoia trees. Running under their shade was a welcome relief especially as the sun began to rise in the morning sky.

A momentary prickle of fear at the back of his neck forced Jack into an almost sprint as he finished his usual morning circuit. He pounded up the stairs to his apartment and slammed his front door shut, locking the dead bolt while gulping down air. Leaning against the door the young man put his head between his knees and forced his breathing to slow, rubbing his chest where the pain of his pounding heart was starting to make his chest ache.

He wanted to curse as tears came unbidden to his eyes, wracking sobs forced their way out between wheezing breaths and somehow he knew that this was it. This was how he would die, alone in his apartment, with no one to come looking for him and no one to leave behind in his lonely world. He curled in on himself, pushing his hands through his hair and pulling at it, his breath stuttered and the world narrowed around him.

“Please… Not like this.” He whispered to himself, choking out the words. “Help me…. Some-one p-p-please…”

Then suddenly it stopped, his chest expanded and his breathing slowed. The feeling of familiar hands through his hair caused him to sigh in exhaustion and relief.  
“Thank you,” he choked out on a ragged breath. He allowed himself a few moments to lie on the floor and his shuddering body eased until he felt well enough to stand. Jack cursed his rubbery legs but kept on with his mission to get under the hot spray of the shower. He pointedly ignored his own reflection in the yellow light of his bathrooms one good bulb and flipped the water on as hot as it would go. This was going to be another energy drink filled day, he could feel it coming.

The water was scalding and he finally had to turn it down as a headache started to form, pounding between his eyes. Quickly rinsing off Jack went to stand in front of the mirror and brush his teeth; he looked into his own brown eyes and touched the tender dark circles under them with distaste. Sleep had been coming to him less and less these last few months and the encroaching feeling that something was about to happen had him waking in a cold sweat when he did finally drift off.

It was all becoming too much, feeling miserable, lost, and without hope. No sleep, little human interaction, and the impending doom that hung over him day and night. Jack wiped his hands over his face, tousled his short brown hair, and forced himself to smile. It was bleak but somehow gave him the strength to pull on his too large suit and tie his tie, stepping into dress shoes that had long lost their shine he began the short trudge to work.

“Jackson, I need to see you in my office please.” It was Barry; Jack’s head whirled around to acknowledge the man who had barely spoken to him in two years.

“Uh… Sure Mr. Lawson,” he said and clicked his computer monitor off. Barry Lawson’s office was much like the man himself. If beige was a personality type that was Barry. Middle aged, middle weight, he even wore those round rimmed glasses that characterized someone who had basically given up on standing out.

“Jackson…”

“Actually sir, it’s just Jack.”

“Right, Jack. You’ve been working here a long time haven’t you?” Barry tapped a pen on his desk and sighed expansively.

“About two years.” Jack fiddled with the hem of his suit jacket, a nervous habit he’d never been able to rid himself of.

“Well Jack, I’ve never heard any complaints about you. You seem to be a very average employee. You do your work, come in on time, and haven’t taken a sick day or vacation since you started working here.”

“Thank y-“

“However, we don’t want average employees here Jack. We want exemplary employees, members who play as a team and function as a family, members who….” Jack stopped listening at this point. He had heard this whole spiel before; many times in fact. He wasn’t living up to his full potential, wasn’t involving himself in everyone else’s business, didn’t want to go and hang out after work or on weekends.

He’d been given the same old song and dance for the past three years ever since… Jack pulled himself away from his thoughts long enough to realize that Barry had said something to him and nod absently.

“Well terrific Jack, I’m glad we had this talk. I’ll send you the information in an email and see you about 3 o’clock on Saturday, alright?” Jack pasted a fake smile on his face and tried to mentally backtrack. What had he just agreed to?

“See you then,” he said weakly and trudged back to his desk in total bewilderment. This is what happened when you didn’t pay attention he guessed, shaking off the sudden feeling of foreboding that descended on him and plunking himself down in front of his computer once more.

The week seemed to fly by and before Jack knew it, Saturday morning reared its ugly head. He got up as usual and pulled on his jogging clothes, stopping at the fridge to grab a bottle of water the brown haired boy plucked a note from the fridge.

Company Picnic-Lexington Park- 3:00

With a groan Jack tugged his worn hoodie tighter around himself and pulled open the door. He really hated going to company functions, and a picnic could drag on into the night if people started drinking. He forced the idea from his mind, focusing on his breathing as he jogged his usual course, then he jogged it again, and on his third lap the knot of uncertainty that had taken up residence in his chest finally loosened allowing him to feel truly exhausted as the first flakes of snow started to drift down.

The sharp winter air was a blessing as he headed upstairs and he opened his windows to it, catching a quick shower and laying out on his bed to dry. He had been so exhausted, plagued with nightmares and the dull suck of his everyday life. Before he knew it he had drifted off into light doze that was mercifully quiet, waking up a few hours later more rested than he’d been in weeks. The snow was just barely sticking to the ground when he looked out his window and suddenly the prospect of a picnic out there in the cold seemed like the best thing in the world.

Jack took his time for once; shaving the little bit of beard that had grown in over the week, brushing his enviable teeth -Oh Jack, you’re just so lucky. You’ve got such nice, straight, white teeth!-, and using just a little gel to artfully tousle his brown hair. He pulled on his least worn set of jeans, ducking into his usual blue hoodie and the new tennis shoes he’d bought himself a few weeks prior. Before he grabbed his keys the young man looked around his dingy old apartment, and felt something new and almost hopeful in the air.

Lexington Park was a twenty minute walk, but with the chill in the air here was there in fifteen. The kids were already rolling in the snow, flinging what little there was at each other. Jack held up a hand in greeting when he saw Barry and the man held up a beer in return, he looked as though he’d already been drinking awhile so the young man avoided him, saying hello to the very few people he knew from work.

He ended up in a small group of just the one intern he’d happened to have gone to high school with, one of the guys who worked in engineering, and someone’s cousin who couldn't readily identify how he’d been invited.

“So guys, this is Jack!” Ruby, the intern, had snatched him up as soon as they’d made eye contact and seemed to be determined to get him talking to someone. “Jack and I actually went to high school together, and he used to be the life of the party.” She gave him a reproving look and he smiled sheepishly. He remembered high school as well, but rarely thought about a time before The Accident. Things had changed so much since then; he was a different person now.

They all exchanged brief introductions and the engineer – named Nick- launched into a long story about some mishap that had occurred earlier in the week. Jack liked him instantly; he was sort of larger than life and not just because he stood at a towering 6’ 6”. Everything he did, from his booming voice to his generous hand gestures was huge. Jack even dug his weird style, the long beard, black boots and what must have been old Army fatigues made him look almost like a biker/ZZ Top hybrid and the young man dug his tatted up arms.

“… and then it just skipped off of the desk. It almost took his arm off!” Nick slapped Jack on the back as he laughed and Jack was almost in tears laughing with him.

“I can just imagine the look on his face!” The brown haired boy laughed even harder and accepted the bottled water Ruby handed to him. “You know,” he started off shyly. “I never mention this but you look really well. I mean… like since… well you know school…” Jack stammered and blushed his way through the awkward speech until Ruby grinned at him.

“That’s really sweet Jack.” She blushed as well, and the group went silent until the last member of their little gathering- who had identified himself as a sleep center manager somewhere downtown- spoke up.

“It’s always nice to see people from our past. To remind us how far we've come and how far we need to go.” His voice was quiet and even, and he nodded along sagely. Everyone paused for a moment thoughtfully until the call for food came from over near the grill. Ruby stuck close to Jack while they shuffled through the line and he noticed suddenly that she smelt good, like really good. The smell of fruit and some kind of tropical flowers drifted up to him and he smiled, even though they saw each other pretty often at work he hadn't taken the time to look at her recently.

She’d grown out her hair; gotten it cut in a sort of feathery style that complimented the strange colors she died it on the underside. It was red right now and dark brown on top so that you couldn't tell when she wore it up at work. Her clothes were sort of bohemian in bright colors and flowing cuts that somehow didn't over power her delicate frame. There was a time when he’d fantasized about her full lips, imagine her delicately upturned nose touching his as they kissed. What guy didn't think that about girls they knew who were cool?

Jack shook his head a little, he was glad he’d accidentally agreed to coming out to this; nothing had felt this good in a long time. He took a fat, juicy hot dog from the grill and piled his plate high with chips, wiping the salt on his pants and squirting ketchup with one hand while locating Ruby and the guys sitting at a nearby table.

“So uh… Sandy right?” He asked as he plunked down at the table only to get right back up and grab himself another bottle of water. “Sorry, you said you do like sleep studies and stuff?”

The man nodded his head; he was slightly squat, older, with sandy-blonde hair and a generally quiet, good natured demeanor. Sandy put his hamburger down for a moment and looked expectant, as though when people asked him about his job they usually asked him the sort of question Jack had been ruminating on since they’d been introduced.

“Well,” Jack paused and cleared his throat, embarrassed. “I’ve been having a really hard time sleeping. And when I do sleep it’s never for long. Do you… if you don’t mind me asking, do you know what the problem could be?”

The older man looked pensive for a moment, chewing his dinner slowly and taking a sip of the carbonated drink at his right before answering.

“A lot of people have those same kinds of problems sleeping so it wouldn’t be right for me to make a guess. I can give you my card though, maybe if you write it down, keep a log of sorts next to your bed and jot down whatever may occur to you while you’re trying to sleep at night. Come and see me in a week and we’ll see if you’re a real candidate for sleep therapy.” Sandy’s serene smile comforted him immensely and Jack nodded his thanks, accepting the man’s card and standing to throw his plate in the garbage.

Through sheer willpower the kids had erected a kind of snowman from the light dusting of snow they’d gotten throughout the evening, the sun had gone down in the few short hours they’d been chatting and eating and many of the families were saying their goodbyes. Suddenly the brown haired youth felt the cold, it was repressive and he rubbed his hands together nervously. Jack forced himself to take a few deep breaths to ease the panic beginning to claw its way up his throat. Tonight had been fun, he’d been really getting along with everyone, Barry would get off his back now, and he was fine.

Even as he started to repeat the thought to himself Jack could feel his breath getting shorter. He stumbled, half-blind, to the table he’d been sharing with the others.  
“I’ve got…got to get home now.” He stammered, Ruby stood up as the others murmured goodbye.

“Jack, you’ve gone ghost white! Here let me walk you home.” She said as she threw the colorful shawl she’d been holding around her shoulders. Jack wanted to protest, but as she tucked her arm into his she was warm and the shaking panic he’d begun to feel was held at bay. He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded absently at her chattering.

“You should really get some rest, you always looks so worn down at work, have you been losing weight? It doesn’t look good on you, you should eat more! Jack I just worry because you’re always so forlorn you know? I want you to start coming to my place on the weekends and hanging out, it’s bad to spend so much of your free time alone. Didn’t you like hanging out with the guys tonight? They’re really good people. You need to meet my friend Aster as well. He’s a little sour at first, but I think you two would really get along, he loves to go camping and hiking and stuff.”

Jack gently guided her towards his apartment building, still nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, totally Ruby, you’re right.”

“Oh cool,” they paused together in his doorway. “So… next weekend? Aster and I were going to go hiking one last time before the snow really hits.”

His knee-jerk reaction was to say no, he’d been turning away almost every social engagement he’d been invited to since The Accident. Tonight however, tonight had been fun. Ruby was fun, and Jack had forgotten how much he missed just talking and laughing with people. One more weekend of this kind of stuff wouldn’t be so bad; he could get Ruby to stop insisting on it then at least.

“Ye-yeah, I can do that. Next weekend, just come see me in my office and we’ll talk about it. Oh uh….” He flushed once more. “Do you… I mean should you be walking home alone?”

“I’m a big girl Jack,” Ruby flashed him a flirtatious wink and waved as she headed down the steps.

“Uh… okay! Yeah see you on Monday,” Jack watched until she vanished around the corner before heading into his apartment. The snow was thick in the air when he glanced out his window, turning to the small planner on the fridge he pinned the card from Sandy to it and took a deep breath, things were finally turning around.

It was almost four thirty on Sunday morning when Jack awoke screaming in terror. He was pinned down, unable to move, the covers were wrapped around his arms and legs as he quaked in the bed. Sweat made his clothes stick to him heightening the feeling that he was suffocating to death in his own bed. Brown eyes wide as saucers darted around the room, trying to identify what had forced him out of his hellish nightmares. Nothing was amiss in the half light cast by the street lamps and still Jack knew that something was terribly, awfully, cataclysmically wrong. He struggled harder with his blankets as helpless tear stung his eyes and with a sort of desperate blood roar he ripped his only blanket in three places.

Springing up from the bed the young man pounded into his bathroom, turning the shower as cold as it could go he tried to calm down. Icy water pelted him, but no amount of rocking and sucking down tear soaked breaths was helping. His shivering was only ten percent from the chilled water, in frustration he pulled on his hair, weeping spastically.  
Jack’s young body seemed totally out of his control as he flung himself from the shower and stood trembling in front of his mirror. He forced himself to look in the mirror; his pupils were blown as adrenaline coursed through him obliterating the… blue? A beat passed as he stared into his own reflection, pale white hair, blue eyes… this wasn’t him. 

Jackson Overland Frost was suddenly looking into someone else’s eyes, blue rimmed and puffy from tears. He put a trembling hand up to his own head and touched the white locks, ruffling them in macabre interest.

Pure, unfiltered, damning panic filled him. An inhuman screech tore its way out of him as the world closed in on him, the walls shrinking in the wake of his mind splintering in pure, terrible disbelief. His vision tunneled, went gray, and he fell unconscious.

When Jack opened his eyes once more it was in the first pale light of dawn. A heavy snow had fallen but, oddly enough, he couldn’t feel it. The snow all around him was dark red and he blinked myopically. Oh, his thoughts were slow to catch up, this is it. I’ve finally done it; I’ve finally done the one thing I was too scared to do all along. A deep, satisfied sigh flowed out of him and he closed his eyes one last time. Now I’ll be with you again…


	2. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack meets Pitch and realizes that death is the not so permanent solution for his ongoing problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still mentions of suicide, still AU!

“Wake up,” the voice was familiar, in the strange way that things from ones childhood that are revisited many years later usually are. “Come on, you look ridiculous just lying there in the snow.”

Jack blinked up at the figure standing over him. The world was dark save for the gleam from the tape around him, reflecting a far off street lamp. He took the hand that was offered to him and gasped as he became weightless suddenly. He was… well sort of floating, just standing as though it were normal to just hang out three or four inches above the ground.

“Am… Am I a ghost?” Jack whispered, “are you death? Or… like the Grim Reaper I guess?”

The man scoffed, still managing to loom over him when Jack was literally half a foot taller than usual. His clothes were dark, almost spectral in that Jack could almost see through them. He had a sharp, angular face and burning golden eyes, his skin was a soft gray heightened by the fact that it was covered in what was looking more and more like a black suit with shadowy tails. There was something almost… sad about the man. The skin around his eyes and mouth seemed like it could frown at any moment and for the first time in a long while Jack wanted to throw his arms around another person and hug them.

“Don’t be so juvenile…,” he waited a beat just looking at Jack with a sort of expectancy on his face. “You may call me Pitch, Pitch Black to be exact though I suppose that would be a mouth full.” The man or Pitch rather, flexed his fingers as he paced a little closer to Jack and the young man stepped back, toppling backwards to the ground. Pitch started forward as if to catch him, but held himself back and cleared his throat.

“Uh… my bad. I just don’t really know what to make of this and… like I’m kind of freaking out in my own head right now.” Jack chuckled sheepishly as he stood up and dusted snow from his pants. When Pitch had come close to him he’d felt sort of warm, it was familiar in the way his voice had been at first. “Alright…uh, Pitch so if you’re not death and I’m not a ghost, then what I’m like having an out of body experience?”

“No my dear boy, you’re quite truly dead. I’m here to guide on your path now.” Pitch gestured for Jack to walk with him as they started on their way from the police tape and the red snow and Jack was just more confused now than ever. When he looked up, Jack couldn’t help but admire the taller man’s face it was strikingly attractive even with the cruel little twist his mouth took when Pitch spoke to him. His lips seemed very pliable, and though it wasn’t apparent Jack could tell from their proximity that if they touched Pitch’s lips would be warm.

“You said guide me on my path? My path to where? Shouldn’t I be like… moving on or something? Going into the light?” A sort of patronizing smile flitted its way across the others face and Jack blushed; he didn’t think it sounded all that ridiculous.

“Jackson…”

“Uh I actually prefer Jack,” he was quick to correct the other.

“Hmm… Well Jack, what do you know of Fables?” Pitch regarded him with a steady look.

“You mean like kid stories? Like… Are you the Boogeyman?” Jack couldn’t help the grin that was pulling either side of his lips. “Pitch, are you the Boogeyman? That’s… Wait so I’m like...”

“Boogeyman,” Pitch scoffed. “Absolutely not, Jackson you may not call me the Boogeyman ever again.” He paused and set his hands on his shadowy hips. “And you are the Winter Spirit. You will bring destructive blizzards and cause slippery mayhem wherever you go.”

“And snow day’s right? I mean if I can make it snow then I can get people out of work and school.”

“Yes, well that’s not the point…”

“And I can start snowball fights? Help kids build igloos and snowmen?”

“No Jack that’s not really…”

“I could even turn lake into giant ice rinks and stuff! People are going to love me!” Jack whooped excitedly, jumping ten feet into the air. “I’ll be just like Santa and the kids will love me and like….” A light snow began to fall and the wind picked up taking Jack with it through the silent, darkening streets. Ice formed wherever he went while Pitch stood looking on, a slightly pained expression on his face.

Jack blew through the city at top speed, frigid wind whipping after him as the snow started to pick up and the few people scattered outside rushed in out of the cold.

“Pitch this is awesome! I’m going to be the most famous…” Jack’s voice faded as a man and woman, their hands clutching tight, ran straight through him.

“Oh my goodness Clint, where did this cold come from?” The woman exclaimed as she held her hat tight to her head.

“I hope it doesn’t ruin our trip this weekend. I hate the snow.” The man scowled as he thrust his key in the door of an apartment building.

Jack stood, speechless, in the road and Pitch materialized next to him out of the shadows. The man gently set his hand on the youth’s shoulder and cleared his throat.  
“Only children can see you Jack. And only if…” the stricken look quickly melted off of Jack’s face and he smiled unsteadily.

“Oh! Well that’s fine I love kids.” Jack whisked back up into the air in search of some kids to show off his new powers to. He flitted quickly from one room to the next, looking for someone awake, until he reached the local orphanage. A little girl was standing in the window, hair pulled back into a long braid and breath fogging the window as she watched the snow fall as well as an older boy with glasses who was pulling her away.

“Come on Christie, its bed time.”

“But look John, you think we’re going to be a snow day tomorrow?” 

“I can do that for you!” Jack stopped in front of the window, ice crystallizing on the window. “Snow day for everyone!”

“John look! John!” Christie pulled him back to the window. “I thought…” She frowned, “I thought I saw something.” Jack’s face fell as the little girl looked right through him, lowering himself to the ground and crumpling into a ball. Warm, familiar hands ran through his hair and he leaned to rest against a shadowy leg.

“I don’t understand.” Jack murmured, confused and upset. “So I’m not… I…” He shook his head and tears were in his eyes when he looked up at Pitch.

“Come with me Jack.” Pitch held out his hand once more and Jack stood, leaning in closer as Pitch put a hand to the middle of his back.

There was no preamble, nothing to warn him, they were standing in the alley behind the orphanage and then suddenly, in the blink of an eye they were in… well some sort of cave. There were figures in every corner, growing out of the shadows and pulsating menacingly; Jack leaned in close to Pitch, licking his lips nervously.

“So uh… this is like your place?” He murmured looking around. They passed under a set of cages, suspended from jagged looking rocks that jut from the ceiling. The entire place seemed mutable and Jack was filled with a sense of unease, this was the place where fear lived and where it bred and became darker and more menacing with time. With all of the fear he’d lived with in his life this is the place where he thought he’d end up every time he slept; in the dark, alone, with the fear.

Pitch settled himself on a throne carved of obsidian; it gleamed in the half-light of the fire roaring in the fireplace behind him. This room was different, it was warm and almost inviting even with the amorphous shadows the fire threw off. The walls were stone but draped in rich, deep red tapestries that depicted long ago wars, or wolves running through snowy forests. The rugs were red as well, patterned with golden leaves the same color as Pitch’s eyes.

“Bring a chair around Jack; sit with me for a moment.” The man waved to a shorter chair and Jack dragged it over, sitting almost at his feet so that he had to crane his neck to look up at the taller man. “You’ve been chosen Jack, chosen for a grand purpose. Children cannot see you, not yet, but we shall make them see.” He adjusted elegantly, crossing his legs and rested his head in one long fingered hand.

“Make them see?” Jack swallowed and pushed his hand through his hair nervously. “I don’t know Pitch… that doesn’t really sound like my thing. I guess… Well I dunno I guess if I was going to be like a legend or something, I’d want to be the good guy. Doesn’t everyone?”

Pitch’s smile was knife sharp, almost a baring of teeth rather than a kind gesture. “Don’t they indeed,” he sneered. “Well Jackson, not everyone gets to be the hero of their own tale. As far as children are concerned the more unpleasant experiences stay with them. You yourself even believed in me once.” His gaze grew wistful while Jack sat in stunned silence.  
“So you want me to be like you?” The young man grimaced slightly at the harsh look the other shot at him. 

“Yes I suppose that would be too much; for you to behave like a bottom feeder like me. How could I ask someone else to subsist off of the basest of human emotion like I do? What sort of being am I to imply that anyone but me should be brought so low?” Pitch stood from his throne, pacing the room, gesticulating wildly.

“Okay okay!” Jack put his hands up defensively, sighing and putting his head in his hands. “So… so what? You want me to help you?”

“No, no Jack nothing so selfish. I want to help you.” Pitch touched him gently; long fingers tipping his chin up until their lips were almost touching. “You’re new to this; I want to guide you on your way. You see when no children believe in you anymore, then poof,” a puff of smoke appeared in his open hand and he crushed it. “That’s the end for you, and while I imagine death seemed like the answer to you when you trudged out into the snow a day ago, I don’t think you’ll feel that way given a second chance. No one ever does.”

Jack sprung up from where he was sitting and ran his hands through his hair once more, blowing out air. “All-Alright. Yeah I want to do that. I want people to believe in me I guess, but what do I have to do? I don’t want to hurt anyone, or kill anyone.” He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and cleared his throat. 

“No, of course not.” Pitch smirked and faded into the shadows once more.

Ultimately Pitch didn’t want much from Jack. A little ice, a little chaos, and things were going pretty well, especially after the Ice Sculpture incident. Pitch was always aloof, in the first few months he barely spoke to Jack after that first night, even after Jack caught sight of himself in the mirror for the first time. It was like an aftershock of the panic attack that had cost Jack his life. His hair was white, snow white to be crassly humorous, his eyes that same shocking blue. Blue like the water just under the thin film of ice that first formed on a lake. Even his skin was a sort of deep blue under white and looking at his own eyes reflected in the glass was all at once terrifying and mesmerizing. He wondered if Pitch had looked different before he was changed, he wondered a lot of things at first.

The Ice Sculpture incident happened only a few months after Jack and Pitch started making the rounds together. Jack would play with the kids all day, starting snowball fights and closing down schools, as long as he painted sinister faces in the ice on the windows. As long as he spread black ice on the roads and allowed the children to wander too close to the forest, kept them out too late and when the shadows closed in and their fears sent them scurrying home Pitch would be there, laughing as Jack had laughed when watching them play.

They were strolling through the park, Pitch had finished chasing the children from the trees and they were enjoying the stillness of a snowy dusk while Jack absently shot icy figures into the air. “We make a good team Pitch,” he said at one point as their fingers just barely brushed. He’d been testing Pitch out, trying to get a little closer each time, to see what exactly he could get away with.

“Yes well, we would be doing better if you would listen to me. We could have been much farther along in our plans by now if you didn’t spend most of your time screwing around.”  
“Well maybe, oh keeper of secrets, if you would let me in on your plans I could help you out more. You know I’d like to have one of these kids look up at me and really see me for once. So…”

“It isn’t about that Jack,” Pitch’s voice was smooth as he caught Jack’s throwing arm in midair. The ice sprouting from Jack’s hand morphed midair, landing a few feet away dark and twisted in the snow. “It’s about this. Alone we would have stayed at the fringes of society. Together…” He strode over to pick up the carved piece of ice. “Together we can make something infinitely better we can be more…”

Jack looked at his own wrist, focusing his power in his hand. 

“Let me help you,” Pitch’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I can make you strong.” 

Warmth spread through his chest, blue eyes fluttered closed as a stream of black sand slithered up his arm. His eyes popped open with a gasp as their mingled powers shot out, forming something beautiful. The ten foot tall sculpture of blackened ice was terrible, it was awe inspiring, Jack couldn’t take his eyes off of it, but if he had then he would have seen Pitch looking at him with the same rapt expression, lips just barely parted.

They spent the rest of the night rushing through the park, shooting ice and snow and black sand at each other. Forming more sculptures until the park was full of them and in the twilight they formed such sinister figures that even Jack was made nervous by them until Pitch met him halfway and gathered him close. Fingers pushed through his hair and he tilted his head back, heart hammering in his chest.

Their lips came close, and closer still, and Pitch was everywhere taking all of Jack’s air and space until…

Until two women shrieked in the distance and came running straight through them, their beautiful masterpieces had terrified them so badly that they even Jack could feel it. Pitch shook himself visibly and cleared his throat. 

“Come let’s head back,” he was gone in a puff of smoke.

“So close,” Jack breathed and rose up into the air, heading back in the direction of Pitch’s ever moving underground fortress. Even though it was never in the same place twice, Jack could always find one of the ways in when he needed to.


	3. Hoping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack is getting to Pitch... In all the right ways.

“Hey Pitch,” Jack reclined on the others throne one day, absently flipping through one of his books. “Are there more guys out there like us? I mean like Santa and uh… I dunno bigfoot?” Shadows surrounded him and he sighed slightly, this was Pitch’s way of throwing a tantrum of sorts. He’d get all big and blustery and Jack would have to deal with the screams of a hundred dying souls or maybe blood dripping down the walls for a while.

“One day you’ll get to meet them. In due time Jack,” Pitch’s voice had taken on a dangerous edge and his fingers flexed as though he was contemplating wringing someone’s neck. As the darkness receded and what could maybe be considered their living room returned to its normal fire brightened dimness.

Jack stood and gently brushed his hands over the other’s shoulders, marking them with a light feathering of frost. They’d been dancing around this moment for too long. Pitch turned, his mouth set in an obstinate line of anger at Jack’s question. There would be some subtle way that Jack would pay for that for the next few weeks, but now… now they were standing too close. Now Jack was reconsidering where his mind had been going when he stepped close to Pitch.

The blue eyed boy thought back to the first time he’d seen Pitch, the way his lips had looked and the way it’d felt when his hands had run through his hair. Gray hands fluttered two helpless birds on either side of Jack and Pitch’s face softened. There was something there, something hot, something that could change everything. His eyes were two pools of golden desire, Jack’s breath was visible and he suddenly, inexplicably, wondered if it smelled. 

Then Pitch lowered his head, and his lips were as warm and moist and malleable as Jack had originally thought. The young man groaned into the others mouth and those fluttering gray hands caught in his hoodie, pulling him up close. Pitch’s tongue danced its way past his lips, branding him inside and out with its overwhelming heat. They broke for air, panting into each other’s mouths, staring at each other with some mix of bewilderment and fear.  
“Jack,” the man’s voice was broken, trembling with need. “Jack…”

“I…” Jack stammered, head tipped back still, wildly aware of how hot Pitch’s hand were on his body. “Uh, wow…” He laughed and stood up on his tiptoes, pulling Pitch down and pressing their lips together once more.

Jack couldn’t get enough, Pitch tasted thrilling. Which, gentle reader, might sound odd until one examines the source. It was terrifying, vulnerable, and Jack knew there was no escape now that they’d started. He couldn’t get away from this if he wanted to, couldn’t if he tried. When they broke away for the second time the gray skinned man was covered in a light dusting of snow and Jack had to brush black sand from his hair.

“I uh… have some… snow I think I should… I mean a lake… or like…” Jack stuttered until Pitch waved him away impatiently and the Winter Spirit shot out of the Nightmare King’s lair, not stopping until fresh air was whipping in his face and he could finally breathe again.

What had he been thinking? What had PITCH been thinking? They couldn’t do something like this… could they? Well it wasn’t like they had anyone else to tell. No one who could tell them that it wasn’t right, Pitch had been alive for a really long time so why couldn’t they spend forever with someone else? Surely the two of them deserved to have something other than making mayhem to hold them over during their mutual imprisonment.

Back at the lair Pitch was having a similar dilemma. He had spent so much of his time, his effort, on getting Jack right where he wanted him. He’d been pulling the other’s strings since he was a child; Pitch Black had been devoted to Jack Frost from the moment the other had been identified as a possible Guardian, and now he was ruining his own carefully laid plans with his unbridled lust. He’d be lucky if Jack even came back at this point and the boy was a major distraction when he was around.

The black haired man paced into his inner chamber where the black globe stood, bathed in a pale light. The spattering of lights indicating children who believed in him was growing, if slowly, it was higher than it had been in almost a hundred years. Jack was making it happen, with his help Pitch would be believed in by children all over the world. His power would grow and soon enough he could enact his plan, soon enough he could let Jack know their ultimate purpose and then there would be nowhere for the Guardians to go. The Man in the Moon should have been watching the youngest member of his insipid flock more closely, but his oversight would soon be Pitch’s triumph.

Soon he would…

“Pitch? Hey, sorry I darted out so fast.” Jack’s voice rang through their shared habitat and Pitch was quick to head towards his voice. He soon found himself with an armful of hyperactive frost spirit. “Listen I was just thinking,” Jack’s pearly white teeth shone in the dimness of the room. “You know forever is a long time, especially if you have to spend it alone.”

Pitch snorted in exasperation, but accepted the cold, sweet kiss when the other offered it. Jack didn’t take long to get comfortable, but the trust in his eyes when he looked up gave Pitch pause.

“Alright, well we’ve got a lot to do tonight. We can talk about it tomorrow.” Or never, his mind supplied as Jack whooped and shot back into the sky on a gust of snowy wind.

Pitch watched him for a long moment, a bemused look on his face. Perhaps the other had a point, forever was a very long time after all; especially alone in the dark.


	4. Knowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby knows somethings up. She can feel it in her... well stomach. Will she be able to bring the Guardians around?

When Jack had finally shown up for a company picnic Ruby had been extremely excited. The two of them had been fast friends from the moment they’d bumped into each other way back in High School, and even though she had engineered the meeting Ruby had no idea that they would get along so well. She had figured that Jack Frost; popular, funny, even stylish to a point, wouldn’t want to be spending his time with Ruby Bird a kid who had been branded as sort of an oddball because of her clothes and hair.

Then Jack hadn’t shown up at work on Monday, Ruby was always sure to check on him and maybe offer him some coffee in the mornings. Even though it wasn’t unheard of for Jack to arrive late she felt in the pit of her stomach that something had gone wrong, possibly very wrong.

“Hi Nick, its Ruby, want to do lunch with me and Sandy today?” Ruby kept her voice neutral and pleasant even as she watched Barry, Jack’s supervisor, walk past her with a puzzled look on his face.

“Sure, sure Rube I’ll see you there.” Nick sounded preoccupied and the young woman quickly ended the phone call, making a similar one with a similar answer to Sandy a few moments later.

Pushing her hand through her feathered hair, Ruby sighed and forced herself to stand up and begin sorting the mail for the day. Even if something had happened to Jack there was nothing she could do about it now without jeopardizing their position here.

The time left until lunch seemed to drag on and on until finally Ruby darted out the doors to her dingy red, little car and sped towards the sandwich shop down the street. The one between the only movie rental place still in business in town and the poorly lit, cramped old dress shop, 

the older woman who owned it always stepped out when Ruby walked by and chatted for a few moments. Nick was already sitting down in their usual booth off in one corner of the restaurant, huge hoagie on a plate in front of him. The woman offered him a quick wave before heading to the counter and ordering her usual veggie wrap and sweet tea. By the time she was heading to Nick’s table with her own food, Sandy was stepping up in line.

“Aster should be here in a few minutes,” Ruby assured her friend as she sat down and helped herself to a couple of Nick’s fries, warm and crisp straight from the fryer. The man looked offended for a moment but stole the pickles off of her plate with a resolute nod and the two fell into companionable silence.

Aster bustled through the door as Sandy was coming to sit down, dropping his couriers bag down he tossed what could have been a greeting their way and darted to the counter to place his own order. He was a seemingly energetic young man, with mousy brown hair and large blue eyes. He cut a lean profile, all arms and long, muscled legs and his clothes seemed to follow Ruby’s bohemian style; being both loose fitting and brightly patterned.

He shuffled his tray in with theirs and the four chattered amicably for a few moments, slowly everyone turned their attention to Ruby expectantly.

“Alright, I’m sure you all are wondering why I asked you here, and I suppose now that we’re all here and I feel like I may have overreacted, but Jack didn’t show up for work today. He’s never late and certainly hasn’t ever just not showed up. His supervisor has also been looking really worried lately and I think… well I think Pitch may have finally gotten to him. I want to go look for him.”

The others spent a few moments considering what she said and finally Nick nodded his head.“You should just go see him after work. Maybe he’s just feeling under the weather hm?” He smiled and patted his stomach, reaching to finish Ruby’s chips with a soft hum.

“Yeah I mean there’s no reason to get all worked up if he doesn’t show up for just one day. Maybe he’s finally found something else to do than mope around and go to work?” Aster put a comforting hand on her shoulder and Ruby managed a strained smile.

“You guys are right, I mean whatever is going on I’m sure it’ll be fine until this afternoon. I’ll call you once I know something alright?” Even though she was agreeing with them, Ruby felt it in the pit of her stomach, something was really wrong and the sooner she could prove it, the sooner everyone could start doing something about it.


End file.
